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Perfect for long lazy lunches, this Mediterranean summer vegetable tart is made with a crisp, rough pastry shell, brimming over with sweet tomatoes, salty olives, and crunchy peppers, with just a hint of chilli. The whole thing is complimented by my zesty lemon cashew ricotta.

My veggie garden is blooming… or should that be booming? It’s got to the point now where we just can’t eat everything it’s producing fast enough, and I really need our neighbours to come and take some of that produce off my hands.

Fortunately, our friends, Emilia and Ioacob are of the same opinion, so half of the onion glut has now found a home with them. And in return, a not inconsiderable amount of Ioacob’s fine home-made wine* has made its way into my tummy.

Heheh!

*There’s actually no such thing as bad Romanian wine**. Tru fakt.

**When amato mio and I first met, he asked me what my favourite wine was – I said it was a Pinot Noir from the foothills of the Carpathians… little did I know that 15 years later, we’d make a home there.

Speaking of which…

When we first moved to Băița, it was a culture shock – far more so than when we went to live on the other side of the planet. But we’ve come to realise that our neighbours are among the most kind and friendly people we’ve ever met. It took a bit of getting used to, having people wander in and out of our garden, and there were a few misunderstandings but now we find there is contentment to be had when we just go with the flow.

Everything works out well in the end.

Even when people graze their cows in my garden.

Like my tarte tatin and tomato, basil, and buckwheat soup, this Mediterranean summer vegetable tart is almost exclusively made with produce from my garden. And as with them both, this is such a simple recipe.

It’s really just a case of making a pastry shell (if you don’t want to do that, you can always use ready-made pastry dough or buy a ready-baked pie crust… no one is judging here!), filling it with a whole bunch of summer veggies and herbs, and then bunging it in the oven for 15 minutes.

For the lemon ricotta, you can either make your own, or add some lemon juice and zest to some store-bought, such as this one from Valsoia.

It really is as easy as that!

Mediterranean Summer Vegetable Tart

Is…

• full of nutrition (Vitamin A 46%, Vitamin C 166%, Calcium 4%, Iron 14% RDV)
• packed with protein and fibre
• sweet
• salty
• tangy
• easy to make
• so delicious

Of course, you don’t have to have it with anything – on its own, it’s just as scrumptious!

Buon appetito!

Tell me about your favourite savoury summer bakes!